Weekend Hot Topic, part 2: GameCentral recommends

Readers discuss the best recommendations to come from GameCentral’s reviews and the games they would’ve missed without the help of the Inbox.

Deadly Premonition – more than meets the eye

The subject for this week’s Hot Topic was suggested by reader JayT71 (gamertag), who asks what favourite games you have discovered only because of a recommendation on Metro GameCentral. Whether it was a review or a reader’s letter or feature, what games would you never have known about if not for reading GameCentral?We have to admit this was our favourite Hot Topic for ages and a very humbling experience when presented with stories of how readers have discovered favourite games through these pages. We have particular respect for those that played unusual games, didn’t like them but still felt better for trying them. Kudos to you all!Who dares winsWhen GameCentral banged on about the virtues of Deadly Premonition I spotted it the next day in Blockbusters. It was going for a bargain price (under £20) and I took my chances. I’m glad I did as it out evils Resident Evil, makes more noise than Silent Hill and brings back a fresh air to the survival horror genre.It’s faulted but not broken and if you haven’t tried it yet you can get it off the Xbox Live Marketplace. I don’t agree with GameCentral on everything, Disgaea (bores me), FIFA series (buy it every year) and 2D shoot ’em-ups (tedious apart from Xevious) but I’m glad I took a journey with Zach! I’m off to have a shave.Toby BrownAll goodThis week’s Hot Topic comes at an apt time as I recently purchased games which GameCentral recommended long ago. I wanted some revered, lasting portable games so I recently purchased a Game Boy Micro as well as game such as Zelda: A Link To The Past, several of the Super Mario Advance games as well as the infamous Astro Boy: Omega Factor which I was sold on after one stage!Conversely, I didn’t buy Heavy Rain upon release after GameCentral’s review. A colleague had purchased, completed and was ready to trade it within a week so I thought I’d save him the bother and bought it off him there and then. I then went on to thoroughly enjoy the game, despite what some saw as faults. I can’t really explain why other than I liked the plot, the tension, the oft brilliant graphics and the conclusion of the game.Paul ConryDiscovering AtlusFor me it’s not just a game that I’ve gotten into but rather a company: Atlus. It started with the Shin Megami Tensei series and the spin-off Persona games as GC raved about them but for various reasons I never got round to playing them at the time. The names and reviews did stick with me though. What peaked my interested was an import review in GamesTM of Etrian Odyssey but because I was playing a different game I didn’t bother to import it. What’s this got to do with GC? Well when GC reviewed the UK release they were even more glowing in their praise so it was a day one purchase. I enjoyed it so much I imported the sequel straight away (good job too as both it and number three remain tragically unreleased in Europe) and then went on to play more of their back catalogue. The MegaTen games were even better and I grew to love the company not just as a developer but as a publisher too. They have published some fairly financially risky games like Demon’s Souls and 3D Dot Game Heroes so are quite forward thinking as well. The fact that nearly all of their games are mercilessly hard probably puts people off but I urge people to try them as they are brilliant. To give some idea of how hard they can be Etrian Odyssey II laughs at Dark Souls and the takes its lunch money. Few games give you monsters you can’t beat at level 10 yet introduces them in about the fifth room you go into. Anyway, not to sound sycophantic but I’d like to thank the GC staff for offering the most honest and reliable review site around. Cutting through a lot of hype to champion games that otherwise might slip through the cracks and give equal coverage to the smaller, more niche games and companies. I honestly think my games collection would be poorer or at least blander without you.andy_b720 (PSN ID) Two wordsValkyria Chronicles, Valkyria Chronicles, Valkyria Chronicles! That is all.Adam Wilson

Catch up on every previous Games Inbox here

Not OuendanI have been reading GameCentral in its various forms for a few years now. Many of the games I must admit pass me by, as I am not a hardcore gamer. Off the top of my head I have played Dark Souls (haven’t got the time to play it), Earth Defense force (random), Psyconauts (great, until it crashed at a boss) and probably a few others I can’t remember. However there are two games I have played through recommendations on here which are amongst my favourite games of all time. Okami would have been a game that completely passed me by. I am not a Japan nut and would not have gave it a second glance in the shop. However, I must admit it was one of my favourite PlayStation 2 games for its style, action, story and sheer size. I thank you for helping me experience that game! The other game was a random Christmas present I asked for, which turned out to be the single most addictive game I have ever played! I cannot hear the songs anymore without tapping away with my fingers, visualising the notes in my head. I know what you might be thinking, and it’s not, I’m talking about Elite Beat Agents! I would have never come across it without GameCentral yet after buying my son a DS for his birthday last week, I am scouring the Internet for a copy to relive those nights of failing Jumping Jack Flash over and over!Chrisassassin17 (gamertag)/Sacred_innocence (PSN ID)Giving them a chanceGames I would never have played if not for GC? This is gonna be a list. Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls, ICO, Majin And the Forsaken Kingdom, Persona 4, possibly Dead Space (although I probably would have got it anyway), Castlevania (the new one) and probably more but of the top of my head I can’t think. The flip side of this of course are games I got or played in spite of the warnings from GC such as, Duke Nukem Forever, Alan Wake, Conflict: Denied Ops (I think that was the name) and I’m sure there’s more still. Because of these experiences I will pretty much have a go at any game no matter what type it is although I still wouldn’t have a lot love for driving or beat ’em-ups except for some reason Tekken and Project Gotham Racer. Saying that, though the last Tekken was the big ‘S’ word with its scrolling beat ’em centric gameplay. Last point, I would put more faith in GC’s reviews than I would in most print magazines simply because they are independent and don’t rely on advertising and sucking up to the games publishers and this is why would at least try any game that scores 7 or more from the GC site. Even a 5-6 has a chance of being played at some point just to see if the good points that the reviewer found actually exist.BobwallettUncharted discoveriesGames ‘discovered’ because of GC and fellow readers recommendations is a great topic for me because GC’s reviews and readers opinions in the Inbox are what influences me most in the games I play. There is far too many games to mention but here are my highlights.First up, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. What an amazing game! I bought it after reading your glowing review and the heaps of praise in the Inbox. Deservedly so too as this is one of the best games of this generation. Up until then I considered Uncharted a poor man’s Tomb Raider.Next I’d like to mention Assassin’s Creed II. After the disappointment of the original after so much hype I wouldn’t have considered it but thanks to all at GC again I am happy to add this to the best of the generation list also. Although Assassin’s Creed II is still the best in the series.Recently I have discovered MotorStorm RC, Super Stardust Delta, Escape Plan and Everybody’s Golf (which I haven’t enjoyed since the PS one games) for my PS Vita and am enjoying them all thanks again to GC and our readers.GC is the best gaming community on the ‘Net. Long live GC! Don’t know where I would be if you had shut down a few years back. Big Angry Dad82 (gamertag)/FF13ACE(PSN ID)I wanna wad you up into my lifeI only found out about the brilliant ‘rolling up the entire world’ game We Love Katamari because of GameCentral. Your coverage of the plight of the original that was never released in the UK and your campaign to try and get the sequel to sell well here made it the only game I’ve bought full price on release day since Napalm the 1998 real-time strategy game on the Amiga (an awesome game too, check out the two-player null modem link-up mode)!Everything from the psychedelic Japanese cheese music to the King Of All Cosmos and all the weird little prince and cousin fellas mean the whole game is complete escapism and the perfect antidote to stressful 21st century life! ‘Ahh nana na na na nar na da Katamari Damacy…’BozzerMy gaming lifeThis Hot Topic is basically about one of the main reasons GameCentral gets read on a regular basis. I have a list of games which would not have entered my house or even my awareness, if I did not read these pages, here are a few.Advance Wars: Dark Conflict on the DS, has kept me engaged for what seems like a silly amount of time. The outwitting of the enemy on a small scale, but thus turns epic when you’re so focused on it, saves me to find a reason to venture into PC strategy gaming, as I feel time is spent well enough on this.Ghost Trick, also on the DS, is a game which through a recent reader’s feature about a reader’s partner’s experiment into gaming, which actually made me research this game, buy it, and love it for the unique experience it is. Solving cases and your death by entering objects to stop events from happening, with the unique style and great music to keep you thoroughly engrossed, not to mention an awesome story to keep things going, make this one of the highlights of my gaming life.Deadly Premonition on the Xbox 360, is a game which, emotionally had gripped me from start to finish, and will be starting again in the near future. Character driven story lines have (at least in games) never come close, or if they do, it is quite rare. Never mind the graphics or flawed game mechanics – the story and locations are key here, the characters, music, and virtually everything else in Twin Peaks is here, especially the surreal and weirdness of the series, which is a very high complement. Truly a game that needs a sequel please, as there is more story to be explained, especially about the red seeds that seem to go beyond the boundaries of Greenvale.These are some of many great games which would have been unheard of, or not enticed enough to buy, if the niche market was not reviewed as in-depth as GC does, and let’s not forget Inbox, a great source for awesome advice.AlucardWider horizonsSince GC took over the hallowed pages of Digi, my interest in niche games has increased tenfold. Thanks to GC I have bought and thoroughly enjoyed titles such as Knights In The Nightmare, Ghost Trick, MadWorld, killer7, Zack & Wiki, Little King’s Story, Soul Bubbles, Metro 2033, Okami, No More Heros and Street Cleaning Simulator…. okay maybe not Street Cleaning Simulator, but I do owe many thanks to GC for broadening my taste in games.Neilos626 (gamertag/PSN ID)Reader’s wisdomWithout the wisdom seen on these pages I probably wouldn’t have given Demons Soul’s a go and therefore Dark Souls. I’m on my third run there, made it to the top of Sens Fortress at level 15!The one game I didn’t see anywhere else at all though was Global Defence Force, which of course I couldn’t find in stock anywhere. Thankfully some brilliant readers pointed out it was stocked in an unusual supermarket (for games) and I secured a copy. Thank you so much for that GC and thanks to those readers who tracked it down, an absolute gem of a game.ThumbSprain (PSN ID)Better late than neverI have never played Devil May Cry and have hardly touched any fighting games since Tekken on PS one, they are just not my cup of tea. On your recommendation I bought Bayonetta for less than £20 online in a sale but after trying it for about 45 minutes gave up as I felt I had no idea what was going on and didn’t feel in control of any of the fighting as I randomly jabbed at the buttons. (Also the short fat guy in the cut scenes at the start was awful.)I would like to thank GC and the Inbox for constantly nagging away at me for the next seven or eight months until I dusted it off and had another go, boy was I hooked! The graphics and build quality of the game are amazing and needless to say I found the young lady herself quite mesmerising. The imagination of the guys who made the game is incredible with the most original boss fights and an amazing ending to the game. I have completed the game twice now and may have another go in a few months.So keep up the excellent work GC you are the only site I view as 100% trustworthy and love visiting you twice a day.Royston VaseyPS: Special mention to Deadly Premonition which I would have avoided due to the awful graphics, poor controls and terrible start to the game if not for you guys. It would have been a disaster to have missed out on that games story, right Zach?Team ICOI’m not sure whether this counts since you specified ‘Metro GameCentral’, but my favourite game, well two of them, were introduced to me back in the Teletext days of GC. The games were ICO, and Shadow Of The Colossus. I remember browsing randomly at a GAME outlet and seeing ICO for £10.Not knowing what it was about, or even what kind of game it was, I instantly bought it, remembering the glowing recommendations on the Inbox and by GC. I instantly fell in love with it, and a few weeks later I also acquired a copy of Shadow Of The Colossus, which easier became one of my favourite games. If it wasn’t for GC and everyone who writes into the Inbox, I would have never found out about ICO and of course, by extension, Shadow Of The Colossus.TheRollingNinjaKeep experimentingGC are the main source I use for honest, unbiased reviews. Over the years they have influenced many of my purchases, that I would perhaps have missed out on. I have enjoyed loads of original games like Flower, Braid and Limbo, that GC have recommended, that help cleanse the palate from all the shooters that are the popular choice at the moment.I have experimented with games like Child Of Eden, which I enjoyed with my much underused Move controller, and have dabbled with Demon’s Souls, which I found quite frustrating, and the current game of the moment, Dark Souls which while still being quite frustrating, I am enjoying a lot more, due to it being a lot more accessible and fair (at the moment!). I am currently at the Undead Burg, which isn’t that far into the game, but it definitely gets its hooks, and other painful instruments, into you. Due to time constraints, I decided to play some less taxing games in my backlog, but it is always in the back of my mind to go back to it, which says a lot about the quality of the game.I haven’t always agreed with GC’s reviews though, and I thought their review of Heavy Rain was overly harsh, and it was a title I actually quite enjoyed. Although I can understand people not liking it, as it was the gaming equivalent to Marmite! But for the most part their reviews are spot on.I’m a gamer who likes to experiment with new genres, and different experiences. I enjoy shooters as much as any gamer, but there comes a time that I want to find something fresh, and GC are a great source to find the niche games that the mainstream magazines and gaming sites ignore.Cubes (PSN ID), Cubes73 (Steam, OnLive and raptr.com IDs)Defender of the EarthIt’s no secret that I love the Earth Defense Force games. I would never have picked up that second hand copy of Earth Defense Force 2017 if it weren’t for me recalling GameCentral praising Global Defence Force on the PlayStation 2, which I also bought some time later. Even the ‘spin-off’ Insect Armageddon gets played frequently. Ever since the announcement of Earth Defense Forces 4 I have been waiting not so patiently for news but nothing has appeared yet…I recently bought Dark Souls which is brilliant, but I have been holding off getting too wrapped up in it in order to get through my backlog of games.TrevorMcFurr (gamertag)Then and nowLike many others I suppose, I was waiting for the PlayStation 2 to arrive. As a recent console convertee, I spotted more and more mentions on Digitiser (which I’d continued reading since they actually covered the Amiga in the heyday of the extortionately priced SNES and Mega Drive games) for something called a Dreamcast. I went to a games shop (don’t remember which one now – probably Electronics Boutique), saw Crazy Taxi running on it then got one. I kept my eye on Digi every day from then on for which games to get, because most other magazines and what few TV shows there were around at the time seemed to ignore the system entirely. I’m not even sure all Arsenal fans knew what one was. So lotsa Dreamcat games – too many really to list (Though Rez, Jet Set Radio, Metropolis Street Racer; Skies Of Arcadia and Shenmue get special mentions). Thanks to these pages in more recent times, I’ve tried a bunch of games that I wouldn’t have known of anywhere else – for example (and trying not to name the most obvious ones) – Beyond Good & Evil, King Kong, Bayonetta, Rayman Origins, 3D Dot Game Heroes, Deadly Premonition, Okami, ICO, Bangai-O, Soul Bubbles, Child Of Eden, Darwinia, Rome: Total War; I MEAD A GAM3 W1TH Z0MBIES 1N IT!!!1. Anyone on my Friends List can see the amount of stuff I’ve tried on the Xbox 360 or on Steam and for the most part I’ve enjoyed at least trying them – but you know what – bullet hell games are just too hard!moviestar444 (gamertag/PSN ID/ Steam ID)

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